Nutritional and metabolic disturbances are observed in patients critically ill with COVID-19. At each step of the progression of the disease, ICU patients with COVID-19 should be carefully evaluated in terms of malnutrition risk and medical nutritional support. The tremendous challenges posed by the continuous clinical changes requires adequate...

The use of indirect calorimetry (IC) is increasing due to its precision in resting energy expenditure (REE) measurement in critically ill patients. Thus, this study aim to evaluate the clinical outcomes of an IC-guided nutrition therapy compared to predictive equations strategy in such a patient population. This systemic review and meta-analysi...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide determining a dramatic impact on the healthcare system. Aim of this study is to evaluate mid-term clinical impact of COVID-19 on respiratory function. The respiratory system is subjected to major involvement during COVID-19 also due to the hyperactive host immune response and the inflam...

Acute kidney disease (AKD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are highly prevalent among hospitalized patients and they have important metabolic and nutritional consequences. Moreover, in case of kidney replacement therapy the possible impact on nutritional profiles, substrate balance, and nutritional treatment processes cannot be neglected. The ...

This is the first European study reporting on respiratory follow-up outcomes after SARS CoV-2 infection. In this study, reduced DLCO, decreased distance of 6MWT and desaturation during 6MWT were correlated to a severely impaired COVID-19 phenotype, and importantly this relationship was not confounded by age, sex, or BMI. This findings ...

This review article summarizes current evidence supporting the role of higher protein intakes, especially during the early phases of nutrition therapy in acute illness, methods for assessing protein requirements, as well as, the currently available high-protein enteral and parenteral nutrition solutions.  There is sufficient evidence (albeit li...

The study showed that VO2max is clearly elicited in all distances from the sprint to the marathon. A fast start and the time to reach VO2max is important in increasing VO2 kinetics and to improve exercise tolerance. The K5 portable breath-by-breath sampling system was used to measure VO2 and carry out the scientific study. Human locomotion natu...

A new validation study on Cosmed Q-box system including both in-vitro and in-vivo testing was published on ERS (European Respiratory Society) Journal. The usefulness of any diagnostic tool depends on the combination of accuracy, reproducibility and stability. The aim of this study was to conduct a validation of the COSMED Q-box system includin...

A new study was published on ERS (European Respiratory Society) Journal to provide LCI (Lung Clearance Index) reference values in pulmonary healthy adults. Lung clearance index (LCI) is the most commonly used MBW outcome parameter but normative data is scarce. LCI was derived from triplicate MBW measurements based on Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)...

The study wants to explore the longitudinal association of neonatal adiposity (fat mass percentage) with BMI trajectories and childhood overweight and obesity from ages 2 to 6 years. METHODS: We studied 979 children from the Healthy Start cohort. Air displacement plethysmography was used to estimate fat mass percentage. Child weight and recum...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by accelerated aging, but the age-related changes in body composition and its modification by sex and race are unclear. METHODS: We assembled a cohort of 516 patients with CKD and 45 healthy controls and serially measured body composition using air-displacement plethysmography for up to 6 years. M...

In this study, only the change in FM% in the first 6 months of life was associated with more adiposity at age 2 years. Infants with a rapid increase in FM% had higher trajectories of FM% and FM index during the first 2 years of life. These findings appear to support a critical window for adiposity programming in early life. Question   Is a rapi...

The purpose of this methodology paper is to provide practical guidance to health professionals to perform this measurement safely, using various metabolic monitors. Indirect calorimetry is the best tool to assess resting energy expenditure in critically ill patients and ESPEN as well as ASPEN societies recommend its use. Nevertheless, the use ...

A new paper on Clinical Nutrition focused on the decision-making process around IC application for prescription, and individual optimisation of nutritional therapy. Optimal nutritional therapy requires an individually adapted provision of energy as close as possible to patient's real energy expenditure (EE). Indirect calorimetry (IC) is the go...

The aim of this study is to characterize changes in body composition during pregnancy in women with obesity. METHODS: Fifty‐four healthy women with obesity (class 1, 30‐34.9 kg/m2: n = 25; class 2, 35‐39.9 kg/m2: n = 21; class 3, ≥ 40.0 kg/m2: n = 8) expecting a singleton pregnancy were studied. Body composition was measured in early pregnanc...

This ICU Management & Practice article proposes "An overview of the key obstacles for the enforcement of nutritional guidelines and innovative approaches that can be used to overcome these obstacles." Authors outlines that one of the main pitfalls is the common use of predictive equations for targeting energy prescription. The equations hav...

The present guideline is an update and extension of the previous ESPEN guidelines on enteral nutrition (EN) and parenteral nutrition (PN) in adult critically ill patients published in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Since then, the ESPEN methodology has been upgraded resulting in rigorous evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations. The bes...

A new key paper on Clinical Nutrition focused on the decisive role of Indirect calorimetry (IC) in clinical settings. IC has been long recognized as the gold standard for assessing basal or resting energy expenditure (REE) and determining energy requirement is a fundamental of nutrition support, particularly in the situation where adjustment of...

This observational cohort study over two 3 months periods aims to observe the impact of reduced recommended energy targets and the absence of ICU dietitians on nutrient prescription and clinical outcome. The most important result is that a reduction in energy target in ICU resulted in a predictable but unnoticed reduction of protein delivery. I...

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) is the gold standard method for assessing cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF); Although CPX prognostic value has been firmly established in cardiovascular, pulmonary, and musculoskeletal disease patients, it is less established in apparently healthy adults. This study, published by the Journal of the American ...